Plenty of Nothing

The Palace of St Michael and St George

The Palace of St Michael and St George, Corfu, c. 1830, by Joseph Schranz. From 1815 to 1864 some of the Greek islands formed a British protectorate grandly named the United States of the Ionian Islands, for whose government this palace was completed in 1824. Today it houses the Corfu Museum of Asian Art. Source. Also.

Heike Monogatari Wax Museum

Visit the Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Wax Museum with Amanda and Jim.

Lethbridge Nurse

This statue of a nurse at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge makes nice use of bronze, brass, and snow. Source.

Joust

This is only one of 146 jousts recorded in the Tournament Book of Duke Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous of Saxony, c. 1535. It's housed at the Veste Coburg. Source.

National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Source. The British talk about there being no place in Athens to put the Elgin Marbles. Wrong.

Island of Dreams

The Canadian Potato Museum in O'Leary, PEI. Website.

It's The Island Games, the Canadian Premier League's bubble tournament. Playing approximately one game per day on UPEI's Alumni Field, the eight teams will first complete a round robin, then the top four teams will go into a group stage, from which two will emerge to play the final. This will take them well into September. The pitch is available because Atlantic University sports have been cancelled for this autumn.

None of the teams has played a match in 2020. But Forge have Concacaf obligations in October, and there's the Voyageurs Cup to be played at some point.

You'd think the International Island Games Association would have something to say about the Canadian Premier League using their brandname. The Island Games proper are a biennial multisport tournament featuring athletes from two dozen islands, most of them in Europe. The first Island Games were held on the Isle of Man in 1985, and the most recent in Gibraltar (not strictly an island) in 2019. Soccer is even one of the sports played at the Island Games. You could say, well, that's over there and this is over here -- who in Canada has heard of the Island Games? But, see, Prince Edward Island has. PEI was a member of the International Island Games Association for two decades and won 21 medals.

The opening games are:

Forge 2 - 2 Cavalry (August 13)

This was an ideal result for the other six teams.

York9 [2 - 2] Atlético Ottawa

Luca Gasparotto is York9 team captain.

HFX Wanderers [2 - 2] Pacific

[Goals by Morelli and Sanoh.] Last season Pacific took 2 wins, Wanderers 1 win, with 2 draws.

Valour [0 - 2] Cavalry (tomorrow)

Forge [2 - 0] Edmonton (tomorrow)

[Table after these matches:

Forge            2    1    1    0    4    2    +2    4

Cavalry         2    1    1    0    4    2    +2    4

Wanderers    1    0    1    0    2    2      0    1

York9             1    0    1    0    2    2      0    1

Atlético          1    0    1    0    2    2      0    1

Pacific           1    0    1    0    2    2      0    1

Valour            1    0    0    1    0    2    -2    0

Edmonton     1    0    0    1    0    2     -2    0    ]

Other matches:

Ross County 2 - 2 Kilmarnock (August 12)

Kilmarnock [1 - 2] St Johnstone

Hibs are off to their best top tier start since 1974-75, when they won their first four league matches.

Faroes: Skála vs B36 (tomorrow) (postponed)

Allsvensken: Malmö 2 - 1 Örebro (August 12)

Mjällby [2 - 2] Malmö (tomorrow)

Iceland: Fram 4 - 4 ÍBV (yesterday)

Icelandic football is back after a two-week lockdown.

Jordan Halsman played for Fram the year after he played for Morton.

Ireland: Bray Wanderers 2 - 0 UCD (yesterday)

The first round of the 2020 FAI Cup was played midweek. This year only the League of Ireland clubs are invited, minus Shamrock Rovers II, for a total of 19 teams. UCD have a bye to the next round.

K League: Ulsan Hyundai [2 - 0] Pohang Steelers

J2: Kyoto Sanga 2 - 2 Mito HollyHock (August 12)

Mito HollyHock [0 - 2] Tokyo Verdy (tomorrow)

Finland: HIFK 2 - 0 TPS (August 10)

IFK Mariehamn [1 - 0] TPS (tomorrow)

2020-21 UEFA Champions League, preliminary round continued:

Drita vs Linfield (August 11) (cancelled)

This match was cancelled after two Drita players tested positive for Covid-19. Linfield, who won the first leg, advance to the next round.

Developments:

A Celtic player travelled to Spain, failed to self-quarantine on his return, and played in last week's Killie game. There was real fear that the Scottish government would cancel the season when this news came out but Nicola Sturgeon is content to "show the league a yellow card". But both of Celtic's matches and both of Aberdeen's this week are postponed. (That makes three games because one of them is Celtic versus Aberdeen.)

Non-Premiership clubs are barred from training until August 24th, with the exception of Glasgow City who are preparing for the UEFA Women's Champions League. But Hearts, who had started to train, must stop.

The SPFL is codifying a list of Covid penalties.

The 2020-21 UEFA Champions and Europa Leagues are starting up and teams are criss-crossing Europe. There could be instances in which the civil authorities of a country refuse entry to a team from another country because of coronavirus precautions. In such a case the fixture will be moved to a neutral site in Greece, Cyprus, Hungary or Poland. To limit travel the ties are one-legged.

Hearts have signed a player on loan from Livingston. Let that sink in.

Bolivia is looking to restart its top soccer league in October.

Portland Timbers won the "MLS is Back" tournament.

Mortonalia:

The 2020-21 Scottish League Cup groups were drawn Monday. Morton will be in the same group as St Mirren, Partick Thistle, Queen of the South and Queen's Park. Because there are so many easy groups this year Morton are pretty much obliged to win this group if they want to advance.

Kris Doolan has signed with Arbroath. Jack Iredale has signed with Cambridge United of England's League Two.

Kilmarnock stats:

What was Kilmarnock's biggest league win against Ross County?

2012/11/10    Kilmarnock 3 - 0 Ross County

What was Kilmarnock's biggest league loss against them?

2015/8/22      Kilmarnock 0 - 4 Ross County

Killie's biggest league win against St Johnstone:

1954/3/20      Kilmarnock 5 - 0 St Johnstone

Their biggest league loss to St Johnstone:

1928/2/11      Kilmarnock 1 - 7 St Johnstone

Historical matches:

Britain had been at war with Germany for eleven days when the 1914-15 SFL season kicked off on August 15th, 1914. This mid-August start does not represent a wartime delay; the 1913-14 season had begun on August 16th. The league proceeded as planned; in fact two clubs were added. But the Scottish Cup was cancelled.

Aug 15, 1914. Morton started the Division One season with a 3 - 1 win against Kilmarnock at Cappielow.

Aug 11, 1992. The League Cup was strictly a knockout tournament in 1992-93. Morton had a bye into Round Two and hosted Kilmarnock in a midweek game. Killie won 3 - 2, and Morton were out of the cup. Morton scorers were Alex Mathie and Rowan Alexander.

Aug 15, 1992. Morton travelled to Boghead to play Dumbarton and won 0 - 1. Alex Mathie scored.

JFL 1999: Mito HollyHock 4 - 0 Otsuka Pharmaceutical

ÍBV in the 1960s:

1969    12    3    6    3    20    20      0    12    4th (I)

1968    10    4    1    5    16    21     -5      9    5th (I)

1967      6    3    2    1    13    10    +3      8    1st, Group B (II)

1966      8    5    0    3    25    15   +10   10    2nd, Group A (II)

1965      8    6    0    2    26    12   +14   12    1st, Group A (II)

1964      8    8    0    0    31    16   +15   16    1st, South (II)

1963      2    0    1    1      2      6     -4      0    2nd, Group A (II)

1962

1961

1960      3    1    0    2    11    12     -1      2    2nd, Group B (II)

Source. Source.

Division Three

The SFL Division Three existed for only three seasons in the 1920s. Let's follow it through its middle year, 1924-25, and see what there is to learn about this collection of (mostly) defunct clubs, some of which I've written about before.

SFL Division Three results, August 16, 1924:

Clackmannan 1 - 0 Beith

Solway Star 4 - 1 Brechin City

Galston 5 - 0 Dumbarton Harp

Dykehead 1 - 1 Peebles Rovers

Helensburgh 1 - 4 Vale of Leven

Nithsdale Wanderers 3 - 2 Leith Athletic

Queen of the South 3 - 1 Lochgelly United

Montrose 0 - 3 Royal Albert

Source: Glasgow Herald, August 18, 1925.

"Island of Dreams" by the Seekers.

Corners of France: Menton

Musée Jean Cocteau in Menton. Source.

Museum of Musical Instruments

When in La Paz be sure to visit Museo Instrumentos Musicales de Bolivia. Source.

Found in a Codfish

Two views of a cast iron hand discovered in the belly of a codfish in 1932. It's now on display in the Cabinet of Curiosities section of the Manx Museum.

Blue and White Toilets

Blue and white toilets at the INAX Museums in Aichi.